Of the New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of 2012, there are only 39 women, 16 authors of color, and a mere seven women of color. It’s the job of book review editors—as guides to the overwhelming volume of titles published every year—to draw readers’ attention to the kind of books that can broaden their world, that tell the kind of stories that have never been told in print before. These books are out there, but the New York Times needs to do a better job of finding and recognizing them.